Venetian blind



E. DENNEN VENETIAN BLIND Sept. 3, 1957 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 14, 1955 EQA/ES7' DEN/VEIV,

IN V EN TOR I0 H I4 p 3, 1957 E. DENNEN 2,804,924

VENETIAN BLIND Filed Nov. 14. 1955 2 Sheets-S 2 United States Patent 'O "fce VENETIAN BLIND Ernest Daunen, Beverly Hills, Calif., a ssign or to Hnnter Douglas Aluminum Corporation, Rrvex'srde, Cahfi, a corporafion of Delaware The present invention relates to V enetian blinds, and its primary object is to provide a blind wh erem the slats can be tilted closed and then pressed t1ghtly together against one another so as to exclude light almos t completely. Fnll closure blinds of th1s type are partrcularly useful in school classrooms and other inst1tutrons, where the room must be darkened to an extremelydow level of illumination for projection of motion p1ctures or slides, or for television viewing. Such blinds are also desirable for bedrooms, where occupants must sleep durir1g the daytime.

When conventional Venetian blinds are alted closed, the slats are held apart slightly by the lift cords, which pass upwardly through holes in the slats from the bottom rail to the head rail, and this separation of the slats permit an undesirable amount of light to pass through the blind. One solution to the problem of securing full closure of Venetian blind slats was proposed by Bucher and Skiver in their United States Patent N0. 2646115, granted Iuly 21, 1953, wherein the slats are provided with notches in the edges, which permit the slats to drop down slightly along an arcuate path, so that the bottom edge thereof projects below the cross rungs of the ladder tapes and engages the slat below. The edge notch also provides clearance for the lift cord when the slats are tilted fully closed While the blind of the said patent 1s a great 1mprovement over conventional Venetian blinds and has been widely accepted by public schools throughout the country, it is adversely aflected by any bow, or camber, or twrst in the slats, all of which are fairly cornmon defects m crowned sheet metal slats. These defects are most noticeable in wide blinds, and an objectionable amount of light may be adrnitted by the blind if all of the slats are not perfectly true and straight. Another important Ob]Cli of the present invention, thererore, is to minim1ze or el1minate altogether any light leakage due to bowed, cambered, or twisted slats. This is accomplished by means of a pivoted closer which engages the tilted slats frorn opposite side thereof and presses them firmly together.

A further object of the invention is to provide a full closure Venetian blind wherein the slats are constrained against fluttering in the Wind when the blind is fully closecl. Wind-flutter is highly objectionable because of its distracting elfect in schoolroorns where motion pictures er slides are being prcjected, and heretofore the only solution has been to lock the slats to the ladder tape rungs, which is a tirne consurning operation, and has certain disadvantgaes. In the present invention, the engagement of the slats by the pivoted closer serves to hold the slats firrnly against Wind flutter.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will becorne apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherei 2,804,924 Ptented Sept. 3, 1957 Figure 1 is an elevational view of a full closure Venetian blind embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross section of the same, taken at 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figur-e 2, but showing the slats in the fully tilted and tightly closed position, the ladder tape and cord in the background being omitted for the sake of clarity;

Figure 4 is a still further enlarged cross-sectional view, taken at 44 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevational view of one of the slats, taken at 55 in Figure 2; and

Figure 6 is a view sirnilar to Figure 5, but showing the slat in the fully tilted osition, as seen at 6-6 in Figure 3.

In the drawings, the blind cf my invention is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 10, and is mounted in a window frame comprising a sill 11, jambs 12 and 13, and lintel 14. The blind 10 includes a tiltable headrail 15, which is supported at one end by a conventional tilter unit 16, and at the other end by a pivot bracket 17. Attached to the headrail near opposite ends thereof are two ladder tapes 20, which support a plurality of horizontally disposed slats 21 in vertically spaced array. The tapes 20 are attached at their bottorn ends to a bottorn rail 22.

Bach 015 the ladder tapes 20 consists of two laterally spaced side tapes 23 and 24, which are connected together by vertically spaced rungs 25. The rungs 25 are somewhat less than one-half the width of the tapes 23, 24, and are staggered alternately on left and right hand sides of the center line of the tapes, with space left between thern, through which a lift cord 26 passes.

The lift cord 26 is attached to the bottom rail 22 and passes upwardly through cord holes 30 in the slats to pulleys 31 which are journaled on brackets 32 mounted 011 the lintel 14. From the pulleys 31, the cords 26 extend horizontally to the right-hand end of the blind, where they pass through a cord lock 33 and bang downwardly therefrom. The slats 21 are formed of thin sheet metal and are crowned, as shown in the cross-sectional views, so as to stiifen them against sagging. The cord holes 30 are elongated slots or apertures forrned in the slats between the side tapes 23, 24 of the ladders, and are 01T- set to one side of the longitudinal center line of the slat, as

) best shown in Figure 5. When the slat is fully tilted in the normal closed position, as in Figures 3 and 4, the major portion of the cord hole 30 lies within the top one-half thereof. The purpose of this lateral ofiset of the cord hole is to locate the top end of the hole in the upper portion of the tilted slat, where there is a maximum of horizontal projection for each incrernent of width, owing to the curvature of the crowned slat and the slight tilt of 'the latter toward the right hand side, as viewed in Figure 4.

Formed in the edge of the slat that lies at the bottom When the slats are tilted, is a notch 31. The notch 31 is aligned with the cord hole 30, and its width and depth are at least equal to the diameter of the cord 26. The purpose of the notch 31 is to provide clearance f0r the cord in passing under the bottom edge of the slat, as shown in Figure 4; and the notch 31 and the cord hole 30 cornbine to provide a continuous open passageway for the lift cord when the slats are fully closed in the normal direction illustrated in the drawings, wherein the concave side -of the slat faces into the room.

Bach of the slats 21 overlaps the slat below by a substantial amount, as shown in Figure 4, and the bottom edge of the slat abuts against the top surface of the slat below, except for a very slight separation of the slats at the ladder tapes due to the thickness of the rung 25. This full closure condition of the slats is obtained only when the slats are straight and true for their entire length; and any bow, or twist, or camber of theslats caus'es the and 'but-t9mof theblind, which are connectecl=tegethen by apair. of parallel rods 35 and 36, extending* along opposite sides of the slats 21. The top mernber 3'5- is pivoited ona bracket 40 which is secured by scr-ews to the lintel 14. Intermediate its ends,v tha bpacket 40 drops down slightly tprovide an opening fcm passage of the horizontally extendl:ng portionsnfi the li 'fit cords 26. The

bottommember 34=ispivoted 011 a bearing support member 41 that is attached to the sill 11. Bothz the bottom members 34 may be provided With: handles*42 for independent operation, asshown herein er the bottom members may belinked tog ether to' turn. in unison, with only one of the members beingprovided with ahandle.

When the tilter 16 is operated by a controlcord 43 the top rail is tiltedi causi-ngall ofi the other slats 21 to be tilted by theladder tapes 2.0 to t-he fully closed posi.tien shown in Ffgure 4. T0 close the slats more firmly together and secnre them. agaii1st' Wind flutter, the closers 32are then. tnrned to the angled position shown. in Figure 6. This brings the rocls 35, 36, in toward the plane of' the sl'ats and causes tl1em to press the slats together from opposite sides thereof. The closers 32 may be providkad With sita-blb friction: means (not shown) to hold the same in the closed osition.

T0 open the" blihdsthe closers 32 are swung around to the osition shown i-n- Figure 5, perpendieuliar to the plane of the slats, and the operation of the tilter 16 is reversed. In this position of the closer 32, tlie slats 21 may be til'ted to the horizontal position witheut touching the rods 35', 36, since the rods are spaced apart a distance slightl'y greater than the Widt-h of the slats.

While I have shown and described in considerable detail what I believe to be thepreferred form of rny invention, it Will be nnderstood that various changes may be made in the shape and 'arrangement of the several arts thereof without departin'g frorn the broad' scope of the inventiom as d'efined in the claims.

l." A fll closure Venetian blind compri'sing a plurality of horizontall.y disposed vertically spaced slat's, means:

least equal to the diameter of'said lift cord, said one eclge cf said sla't' being disposed at the bottom and ovrlapping the top edge of the slat below when the slats are tilted closed in one direction, said notch and said cord hole providing a continuous open passageway for said lift cord when said slats are fully cl0sed in said one direction, and means pivotally snpported at the top and bottom of said blind fr tuming about a vertical axis and having xnembers spaced radially from said axis engaging said slats on opposite sides thereof t0 press the same tightly 1 together in the vertical plane of said lift cords when the slats are in fully tilted position.

2'. A fi1ll clbsure Venetia-n blind comprising a plurality 0f horizontallydisposed, vertically spaeed slats, means for tilting said slats between open and closecl "positions, apai'r 05 axially aligned pivoted members at the top and bottom of the blind, said rnembers being connected together by parallel rods extending along opposite sides of said slats, and means for turning said members so as to bring said rods in toward the plane 023 said slats', said md& engaging opposite sides of said slats to= press Ehe slats tightly tegether in a vertical plane ta-ke n through t-he pivot axes of said aligned pivoted membens:

3-. A full. closuneVenetian blind eornprising a plurality 'o-f h-arizont-ally dispased slats, at least two laddertapes snpporting said slats in vertically spaced array, means conncted te sa-idladcler tapes to manipul'ate the same so as to tiltsaid:slats between open and closed positions, at least twolifit cords exfendihg verticall'y through said slats ffom top to bottom, eacli of said sl'ats having lengatecl cc rd-hole sprovided therein through which said lift cords pass said 'c0rd holes being disposed. transversely of said'slat5 and olfet' to onaside of the longitudinal centerlinethereof said slats laving notches provided in the edge thereofion the other side of the longitudinal said slats arafully clbsed in said one direction, a pair of' axially aligned pivot'ed mernbers at' the top and bottom cf the blind adjacent said ladder tape, and a pair of' parallel rodsconnected at their ends to said members on opposite sides of and equidi'stantly f'1om the pivot axis thereof and extendihgvertically al'ong opposite si'des 0f said slats, said members bei'ng rotatable so as to bring said rods in 'towardlsaid' slafs to engage the sarne from op posite. sides,. thereby pressingsid slatsti'ghtly together in a verticahplane t-akbn through the pivot axes of said pivoted rnembers.

Refere'nces Glied in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

